Surpreet Kaur, attained 2nd Rank in 1st attempt Delhi Judicial services Examination, 2017
“Firm determination towards the goal and consistent hard work are the secrets of my success”
-Surpreet Kaur
‘Pratiyogita Darpan’ arranged an exclusive interview with Ms. Surpreet Kaur who has been selected in Delhi Judicial Service Exam., 2017. She deserves high appreciation and our heartiest congratulations on her incomparable success. This important, thought-provoking and highly inspiring interview is being presented here in its original form.
PD—Achieving top slot in the Judicial Services Examination is no small feat; accept our heartiest congratulations on your splendid success.
Ms. Surpreet—Thank you very much.
PD—Can you recall the exact moment when you realized the importance of Judicial Services ?
Ms. Surpreet—Since my law college days I used to visit courts for my internships and work with legal aid and during that time I observed the respect and dignity attached to the Judicial Services. So in my law college it self I decided to pursue a career in Judicial Services.
PD—Finally, at what point of time did you make up your mind to make career in ‘Judicial Services’ ?
Ms. Surpreet—I had decided to make a career in Judicial Services in the second year of my law college. I joined coaching to start my preparation.
PD—You must have read Toppers’ interviews in newspapers / magazines; what inspired you the most ? Any particular success story which influenced your journey to this result ?
Ms. Surpreet—Yes I was an avid reader of Pratiyogita Darpan during my preparation and I used to read the toppers’ interviews in it to keep motivating myself.
It wasn’t about the success story of any particular person but the success stories of a particular kind of people, those who had overcome all the obstacles and achieved success with their diligence that inspired me throughout my journey.
PD—Was JSE your planned decision or your parents’ wish ? Did you keep in mind some time frame, for the examination preparation and number of attempts ?
Ms. Surpreet—I would say that it was more of a collective decision. My parents wanted me to pursue Judicial Services because of the respect associated with the job but I, myself, aspired to become a part of Judicial Services. As far as time frame is concerned, I was sure that I wanted to join Delhi Judicial Services so I was ready to devote as much time as was required for it.
PD—What was your first step when you were really serious about making a career in Judicial Services ?
Ms. Surpreet—In my last semester of law college, I decided to join a coaching so that someone could provide me continuous guidance in the right direction that was required for the preparation and after careful consideration I joined Ambition Law Institute which turned out to be the right decision. The class notes that I prepared during my coaching in the classes of Alok Kumar Ranjan Sir and other faculty members there turned out to be one of the most essential tools for my preparation.
PD—Were you confident of your success in this examination and how did you react to this news of your success ?
Ms. Surpreet—I was confident of clearing the exam since I had prepared for it consistently for months but securing such a high rank was a pleasant surprise and I was extremely happy with the news.
PD—In how many attempts have you achieved this success ? How do you visualize your preparation/ previous attempts ?
Ms. Surpreet—This was actually my first attempt. After clearing my prelims I quit my job as a law clerk in order to focus completely on the preparation for the mains and devoted my time on an in-depth study of concepts and application part of the laws. I also tried to work more on the General Knowledge part since that was my weakness.
PD—Were you preparing for other career opportunities as well while preparing for your ultimate goal i.e., Career in Judicial Services ?
Ms. Surpreet—Not really. I was sure that I wanted to prepare for Judicial Services and I also knew that the preparation required my undivided attention and efforts so I gave myself time in order to focus entirely on the preparation.
PD—While the changing economic environment offers immense lucrative career opportunities in various sectors, still what kept you motivated towards Judicial Services ?
Ms. Surpreet—In my opinion a career should not be just financially lucrative. A good remuneration though important cannot be the only motivation behind one’s job. The fact that as a member of Judicial Services I will be taking forward the cause of Justice and serving society was the biggest reason why I wanted to join the Services. My passion for Judicial services never dwindled.
| Bio-data |
| Name—Surpreet Kaur
Father’s Name—Shri Ranbir Singh Mother’s Name—Mrs. Parvinder Kaur 10th—2006, CBSE, CRPF Public School, Delhi (92·6%) 12th—2008, CBSE, CRPF Public School, Delhi (86·4%) B.Sc.—2008-11, Delhi University St. Stephen’s College (67·5%) LL.B.—2011-14 Delhi University Law Centre 1, Faculty of Law (61·45%) |
PD—What’s important and what’s not ? Share your thoughts and opinions.
Ms. Surpreet—Your passion and dedication towards anything that you want to do is extremely important and nothing can ever replace hard work. Also in times of difficulties and doubts, love and support from your family and friends will be invaluable. Stressing yourself unnecessarily over the failures is not at all important. Every failure is a sign of the success that is about to come.
PD—‘Time Management’ is a key factor while making preparations as well as in writing examination papers. Did you come across such a problem during this period ? If yes, then how did you manage things ?
Ms. Surpreet—I think managing time is a subjective issue. It varies from person to person. I didn’t face much problem with time management since I knew my weaknesses and tried to work around them. One should prepare a time table according to one’s own study needs and patterns.
But in the examination, time management matters a lot since DJSE and other state examinations are generally lengthy and contain applied questions that require some thinking so one has to think about the answer and write it down as well within the time limit. Therefore it is always advisable that for the examination, especially mains, one should practice a lot of answer writing during preparation.
PD—Was Judicial Services Examinations a planned thing for you? Had you thought of some time frame for this examination?
Ms. Surpreet—Yes I had planned on joining the Judicial Services since the second year of my law college. There was no time frame since I knew that the entire process might take long so I was prepared for that.
PD—List some of the Magazines, Newspapers, Books etc. which you read for ‘General Studies’ preparation.
Ms. Surpreet—For many of the Judicial Service Examinations including DJSE, General Studies is extremely important Alongwith newspapers I also required magazines like Pratiyogita Darpan that substantiates the newspaper reading further and also provide you with helpful articles, previous years’ question papers and subject focused materials. For the basic General Knowledge I also looked up at the NCERT books of classes 6 th to 12th and Lucent.
| Personal Qualities |
| Strong Point—I am very hard working and diligent so I give my 100% to anything that I do. Also I am ambitious and therefore never afraid of challenges.
Weak Point—I do not like unpunc-tuality. Hobbies—I love reading books, fiction and non-fiction and I like spending time with my friends. |
PD—How did you prepare yourself for Interview ? When and which Board did you face ? How did your interview go on, how much time did it last and what were the questions asked during the Interview ?
Ms. Surpreet—I had mock interview at the coaching institute which gave me an idea as how to prepare myself and on what areas to focus so that was helpful. But mostly I concentrated on revising my laws and current affairs along with important judgements.
The interview was good and the Board made sure the candidates were comfortable. I was asked law and personality based questions according to my background, subject interests and passion for judiciary.
PD—About Interview Boards, many candidates have set impressions. Do you consider such thoughts help or hinder one’s performance in Interview ?
Ms. Surpreet—The basic purpose of the interview is that the board gets to know the candidate and his personality so one has to be simply confident and honest. There is no need of getting nervous by over thinking about the interview.
PD—What is the importance of medium of examination for exams like JSE ?
Ms. Surpreet—Being able to express yourself effectively is important in these examinations since apart from the law papers most of the states also have language papers to qualify. I think in the end more than anything what matters is if you know the law behind the question being asked or not since language cannot compensate the lack of knowledge of laws.
PD—Does the educational, financial and demographic status of the family of an aspirant have any impact on the preparation ?
Ms. Surpreet—In my opinion not at all. It is all about the candidate. If the candidate is sincere and hard working then he will surely be successful.
PD—Pratiyogita Darpan, the largest read Career & Competition magazine has been the top choice of aspirants; what is your opinion about it ?
Ms. Surpreet—Pratiyogita Darpan was one of the magazines that I read regularly during my preparation and it was extremely helpful especially the sections like Compendium, previous years’ question papers and subject related articles. Also the yearly issues for science were a wonderful source of all the information at one place.
PD—What is the secret of your success ?
Ms. Surpreet—As I said, definitely hardwork. Continuous and consistent hard work. If one is determined and works towards the goal with perseverance then one will achieve success one day. Also the encouragement and love from my family, friends, teachers and seniors which I received throughout my preparation was invaluable.
PD—To whom would you like to give the credit for your success ?
Ms. Surpreet—There are so many who provided support to me during my preparation. Therefore I am thankful to God, my family, my close friends and my teachers.
PD—Any suggestion/advice you would like to give to the future aspirants.
Ms. Surpreet—I would like to tell them that if they are passionate about joining the services and are sincere in their preparation they will definitely achieve success. Just remember never to give up and keep patience.
PD—Thank you very much and wishing you all the best for your future endeavours.